Plague-infected letter mailed to France’s interior minister amid heightened security concerns

French Police are investigating the origins and circumstances surrounding a letter, sent to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, which tested positive for the bubonic plague, the Telegraph reported on Sunday night. 

The letter had been discovered in a mail-sorting center but suspicious details of the envelope led staff to telephone the police. 

The letter was sent without a stamp and had undisclosed ‘inscriptions’ on its back. 

When authorities opened the letter, they were met with black powder. The content of the letter also reportedly included a variety of racist insults.

After carrying out tests on the letter, it came back positive for the bubonic plague - which famously killed millions in Europe in the Middle Ages.

A local prosecutor reportedly said that there was still a chance that the test results were a false positive and that more tests would be carried out.

France is on high alert

France has been on high alert at the Paris Olympics 2024 is thought to be a prime target for international terrorist organizations. Arrests have already been carried out against individuals for planning attacks on the site. 

Adding to the heightened alert, Israel’s athletes have faced threats and intimidation. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have attempted to see the Jewish state disqualified from the games - some by intimidation and others by protest. 

French police have opened an investigation into death threats received by three Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympic Games, the Paris' prosecutors office said on Sunday.

Anti-cybercrime officers are also investigating the release of athletes' personal data on social networks on Friday and seeking to have it removed, prosecutors said in a statement.

In a statement on Thursday, Israel's National Cyber Directorate said that after an investigation it had come to the conclusion that Iranian hackers were creating social media channels to publish personal information about members of the Israeli delegation and send them threatening messages.

On the same day, Israel's foreign minister warned his French counterpart of a potential Iranian-backed plot to target Israeli athletes and tourists during the Paris Olympic Games.

Recently, a video went viral in which a man in Hamas-garb threatened the Olympics for its allowance of Israel’s participation.

 Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos and exposing security gaps ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony later on Friday.

The coordinated sabotage took place as France mounted a massive security operation involving tens of thousands of police and soldiers to safeguard the capital for the sporting extravaganza, sucking in security resources from across the country.

SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said vandals had damaged signal substations and cables along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks on the high-speed rail network, which is a source of national pride for many in France. Two security sources said the modus operandi meant initial suspicions fell on leftist militants or environmental activists, but they said there was not yet any evidence.